1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to newspaper vending machines and more particularly to a coin-operated newspaper vending machine that is designed to prevent direct access to the newspaper storage compartment. Each newspaper stored within the storage compartment is arranged to be individually dispensed without the need to open the entire compartment during the operation of the dispensing apparatus. The structural configuration of the apparatus prevents theft of not only the stored papers but also the coins that have been deposited in the vending machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the art, various problems and difficulties are encountered in providing a coin-operated newspaper vending machine with suitable means and configurations that would prevent the removal of more than one newspaper during a single operation and the possibility of theft of the internally positioned money container.
Many types of newspaper vending machines are presently used in great numbers and others have been tried and suggested. However, these known vending machines have not yet solved the most prevalent problem of preventing papers from being stolen from their storage areas. The most common type of newspaper vending machine is still the one that employs a simple box-like structure that includes a front access door which is normally locked to prevent access to the stored newspapers. These doors are commonly releasably unlocked by various types of coin-operated devices. That is, the locked door is opened by placing the proper amount of coins in a coin-operated device that allows the door to be unlocked and opened, thus exposing all of the stored newspapers. Many papers are lost due to the temptation to take more than one paper at a time. It has become very lucrative to take all of the accessible newspapers by those unscrupulous individuals who make a practice of removing all of the newspapers for resale. This practice has become so common that the larger newspaper companies lose as much as $25,000 to $30,000 dollars a month in sales from vending machines. Since the prices of newspapers have risen considerably more people have become very adept at finding ways to extract newspapers stored in almost all of the commonly used newspaper vending machines.
Some manufactures of newspaper vending machines have tried to provide a means to dispense papers one at a time without exposing the remaining papers. However, these particular vending machines have not been too successful because they have various limitations that restrict their use. One limitation is that the structure of the known single-paper dispensing apparatus can only be loaded one paper at a time which slows down the delivery routes and thus adds to the cost of operation.